CELIBACY AND THE QUESTION OF ITS ORIGIN

IBIYEMI VICTOR

The obligation, necessity and authenticity of celibacy in modern dispensations have aroused suspicious questions as to the origin of celibacy. These wary quests emerge because our modern world gives room for questioning the normally-unquestioned in the life of man and also in the practice of the church. Although that was the fruit produced following the aftermath of renaissance; a fruit that has its atheistic proclivities.

The question put succinctly: can the origin of celibacy be traced to Man or God? This question has placed celibacy-talks amongst the topmost issues in the society and especially in Catholicism. Many have furthered the cause of the removal of celibacy from priestly obligations; some others have attacked this ejection as a debasement of the essence of priesthood arguing therefore the celibacy stands at the center of Catholic Priesthood. For those who have supported its removal, celibacy is nothing but a mere law but for the other side of the divide, celibacy has divine inclinations.  

Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which, in some Churches, only unmarried men are, as a rule, to be ordained to the priesthood. The same discipline holds in some other Churches for ordination only to the episcopate. In this context, “celibacy” retains its original meaning of “unmarried”. Though even the married may observe continence, abstaining from sexual intercourse, the obligation to be celibate is seen as a consequence of the obligation to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Advocates see clerical celibacy as “a special gift of God by which sacred ministers can more easily remain close to Christ with an undivided heart, and can dedicate themselves more freely to the service of God and their neighbor.” (Canon 277)

Historically, while scripture does not address celibacy of priests directly, it was clearly not in practice in the earliest years of the church; I Timothy 3:2 includes among the qualifications for those seeking the office of bishop: “The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife…” (I Timothy 3:2). This means that celibacy has not been the practice of the church from her earliest traditions. However, it came into picture around the fourth century, when the church saw that this practice was needed in the pastoral and spiritual life of the church. The earliest textual evidence of the forbidding of marriage to clerics and the duty of those already married to abstain from sexual contact with their wives is in the fourth-century decrees of the Council of Elvira (305) and the later Council of Carthage (390). In these decrees, ministers were advised not to marry, to remain single and chaste.

Scripturally, Pope Benedict XVI in his book Salt of the Earth saw this practice as based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:12: “Some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” This scriptural injunction from the Lord himself became a foundation for keeping the law of celibacy for the kingdom of God.

In an exemplary fashion, Paul within a context of having “no command from the Lord” (1 Cor 7:25), recommends celibacy, but acknowledges that it is not God’s gift to all within the church: “For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am ... I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord - how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world - how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world - how she may please her husband. And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.” 1 Corinthians 7:7–8, 7:32–35. Paul took both spiritual and pastoral dimensions to validate the need of celibacy.

Theologically, the Church teaches that priesthood is a ministry conformed to the life and work of Jesus Christ. Priests as sacramental ministers act in persona Christi, that is, in the person of Christ. Thus the life of the priest conforms to the chastity of Christ himself. The sacrifice of married life for the “sake of the Kingdom" (Luke 18:28–30, Matthew 19:27–30; Mark 10:20–21), and to follow the example of Jesus Christ in being “married” to the Church, viewed by Catholicism and many Christian traditions as the “Bride of Christ”.

CONCLUSION

It is clear from the above that celibacy has both origins. Even though it was later legislated by the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it has been a scriptural cum spiritual practice that Jesus recommended and St. Paul later confirmed it as a virtuous practice befitting those who can sacrifice their entire life to God. Therefore, concerning the origins of celibacy, it can be reconstructed as a practice that began officially in the fourth century, however, it has been a recommended practice for the would-be followers of Jesus who are ready to devout their entire being to serving God and doing his will.  

The Holy See has officially re-affirmed the discipline of clerical celibacy in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis stated that the “unchanging”essence of ordination “configures the priest to Jesus Christ the Head and Spouse of the Church.” Thus, he said, “The Church, as the Spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse loved her.”